A 'social world' consists of all those persons, and groups, with whom an individual interacts. This may be fluid and ever changing or it may show considerable consistency over time, and may consist of family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances with whom the individual may interact for specific purposes and, of course, the individual herself. It can be argued that as individuals we gain a sense of self and who we are from our location in a social world (Matthews, 1979; Jenkins, 1996) and therefore an understanding of that world is crucial to developing an understanding the experience of becoming and being an older widow. In this chapter I explore the social world of older widows by drawing on two bodies of literature: firstly, the literature on social relationships specific to widowhood and secondly, the literature on the social networks of older women in general.